St. Anthony battles back to beat Tahquitz in first round of CIF-SS playoffs
LONG BEACH » In a game that featured explosive plays by the running backs for both teams, it was St. Anthony's Josiah “JoJo” Apisala who had the biggest play of the night.
Apisala scored the gamewinning touchdown in the final minute of the game and the Saints edged Tahquitz 35-34 for a dramatic victory in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 8 playoffs on Friday night.
In a game that had plenty of back-and-forth action, the fourth quarter was as thrilling as it could get. The Titans took advantage of a controversial situation on a fumble after a St. Anthony kickoff, as the officials overturned their call of the recovery by the Saints and Tahquitz maintained possession.
Tahquitz capitalized and scored on that drive with quarterback Daniel Mendoza running for an 11-yard touchdown run to give Tahquitz a 34-29 lead. It was unsuccessful on a 2-point conversion attempt with 6:19 left in the game.
That set up an opportunity for St. Anthony to take the lead and potentially win it with a touchdown.
Apisala and Elijah Lolesio-Pua marched the Saints downfield with one effective run after another and more importantly, they managed the clock well. Apisala's game-winning TD came with 46 seconds left, but an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt kept it a one-point game.
While the Titans had one last opportunity to win it, the defense of St. Anthony was able to make a final stand, sacking Mendoza in the final seconds to secure the win.
St. Anthony will face longtime Del Rey League rival St. Pius-St. Matthias X in the second round of the Division 8 playoffs next week.
Head coach Raul Lara spoke about how his team was tested by Tahquitz.
“They're a very physical team, they run just like us, and I was very, very concerned,” Lara said. “So all week, we knew it was pretty much going to be willpower. I don't think our kids have ever been tested that way… So it was kind of neat seeing them rise to the occasion.”
St. Anthony (8-2) was definitely tested, falling behind by 13 in the first half, but it was able to fight back and keep the game competitive in the second half when both teams found success running the ball.
The Saints were led by their backfield tandem of Apisala, who finished with 120 rushing yards on 20 carries scoring three touchdowns, and Elijah Lolesio-Pua, who finished with 99 yards on 20 carries.
Quarterback Adrian Perez spoke highly of Lolesio-Pua and Apisala and what they meant to this win.
“Both of them are tremendous players,” Perez said. “They work their tails off more than anyone on this team, and in the huddle they were telling me, `I got you, just give me the ball, I got you,' and I was like `Let's go.'”
The Saints fell behind by 13 points early and cut it to six by halftime, 21-15.
It appeared that Tahquitz was going to score again on the opening drive in the third quarter. However, a critical goal-line fumble from running back David Toney at the St. Anthony 1 was recovered by linebacker Raymond Gomez. That changed the momentum of the game.
The Saints cashed in on that mistake by going 95 yards for a touchdown, and the game became a backand-forth affair.
Tahquitz was led by its two star running backs, Toney, who had 105 rushing yards on 16 carries with a touchdown, and DJ Bryant, who ran for 239 yards and two touchdowns.